Speed control for squeeze rolls



Aug. "24, 1943.

c. a OLIVE SPEED CONTROL FOR SQUEEZE ROLLS Filed A ril 12, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR (/V/MES OA/Vf 7 ATTORNEYS Aug. 24, 1943. c. a OLIVE 2,327,448

SPEED CONTROL FOR SQUEEZE ROLLS Filed April 12, 1940 3'Sheets-Sheec 2 T 1 30 as INVENTOR 617 481.55 OA/VE ATTORNEYS Aug. 24, 1943. c. E. OLIVE 2,327,448

SPEED CONTROL FOR SQUEEZE ROLLS Filed April 12, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR C/liKLfS f- OZ/I E ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 2 4, 1943 sraan CONTROL FOR sousszn nous Charles E. Olive, Drummondville, Quebec, Ganada, assignor to Celanese Corporation of Amerioa, a corporation oi Delaware Application April 12, 1940, Serial No. 329,267

.10 Claims.

This invention relates to squeeze rolls for extracting liquid from wet masses of material, and relates more particularly to an automatic speed control for the squeeze rolls.

An object of this invention is the provision of simple, eflicient and inexpensive means for extracting liquid from a wet mass of material.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved arrangement for controlling the speed of squeeze rolls. A further object of this invention is to provide a squeeze roll arrangement wherein the speed of the squeeze rolls is automatically controlled by the feed of the mass to be extracted.

Other objects of this invention, together with certain details of construction and combinations of parts, will be apparent from the following detailed description and claims.

In the accompanying drawings wherein one embodiment of the invention is shown;

Figure 1 is a side elevational view, more or less diagrammatic, showing the relation of the material control curtain in the feeder chute for feeding the wet mass of material to the squeeze rolls,

Figure 2 is a plan view, partly in section and on a slightly enlarged scale, of the lever system for controlling the micro-switches,

Figure 3 is a view taken on line 3-3 in Figure 2,

Figure 4 is a front elevatlonal view, partly in section, of the jogging timing device,

Figure 5 is a view taken on line 5-5 in Figure 4, and

Figure 6 is a wiring diagram for the control of the motor for driving the squeeze rolls.

Like reference numerals indicate like parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

Referring now to the drawings, the reference numeral I indicates generally the usual three roll squeeze roll arrangement for extracting liquid from wet masses passed therethrough. As is well known, such squeeze rolls operate at optimum efliciency when the rolls are kept 'full of the material being extracted. In accordance with this invention, there is provided means for automatically controlling the speed of the squeeze rolls for maintaining said squeeze rolls full of material while they are rotating and to stop the rotation thereof, or shut them down, when insufflcient material is fed thereto to keep them full. To this end, a feeder chute has swingably mounted between its side walls 9 and 9' a control curtain which may be of metal or any other suitable material. The free end of the control curtain is curved in the direction of the feed of the material. The position of curtain H as determined by the depth or thickness of the mat of material in the chute, controls the rotation of the squeeze rolls by means which will hereinafter be described.

The control curtain H is carried by a pair of triangular web arms i2 and i3. The apex of arm 12 is attached to and is adapted to rock stub shaft H in casing i5 suitably fixed to side wall 9' of the chute, the shaft i i beins held in position by means of a collar i6 and set screws H. The apex of arm [3 is fixed to a shaft l8 on which is carried a counterbalance arm i9 and a counterbalance weight 2! adjustable along said am l9, the counterbalance weight being adapted to be held in adjusted position by a set screw 22. The counterbalancing means, i. e. arm l9 and weight 2|, are adjusted to allow the curtain H to reach its lowermost or A position as shown in Figure 1 of the drawings.

Movement of the control curtain I I rotates shaft l4 and thereby cams 23, 24 and 25 integral with collars 26, 21 and 28, respectively, which are suitably attached to the shaft M, The cams are so arranged as to give three control positions, indicated by reference characters A, B and C in Figure 1, to control curtain H. These control ositions may be changed where necessary by resetting earns 23, 2t and 25. fihe normal, or desired, depth of the material in the chute is between positions B and C with the control ourtain Ii riding on top of the mat of material. If

the material comes into the chute faster than the squeeze rolls pass it on, the depth of the mat of the material will increase and the curtain will therefore rise above the position (7 thus rotating shaft l4. This rotation of the shaft causes cam 23 to rock a lever 29, which is bifurcated at one end and carries a rotatable cam follower 30 in the bifurcation, about a pivot 3i thus depressing a plunger 32 of a micro-switch arranged in switch box 33. The micro-switch is adapted to close a circuit to a pilot motor 34 which will actuate a controller arrangement, generally indicated by reference numeral 34', to increase the speed of a motor 35 which drives the squeeze roll I.

When the feed of the material to chute 8 slows up andthe mat of the material is of such a depth that it is below position 13 the drop of control curtain l I causes cam 24 to actuate lever 36 which is substantially similar to lever 28. The actuation of lever 36 depresses plunger 31 of micro-switch 31 effecting a decrease in the speed of the squeeze rolls. Should the feed of the squeeze rolls slowup to such an extent that the gardless how rapid it is.

pilot motor.

material is at all below position A, the drop of the control curtain it causes cam 25 to operate a lever 88, similar to levers 29 and 86, which depresses plunger 39 of micro-switch iii and efi'ects the shutting down of the squeeze rolls. This shuttin down of the squeeze rolls permits the mat of material in the chute to build up and raise the control curtain enough .to start the squeeze rolls again.

In order to effect the change in the speed of the squeeze rolls from low speed to high speed, and vice versa, without unnecessarily large changes and without hunting, there is provided a jogging timing, or switching, device, shown in Figures 4-, 5 and 6, adapted to make contact intermittently in electric circuits. This device,

. comprises a Telechron clock motor, generally in dicated by reference numeral ll, carried by a bracket 32, which rotates a shaft 33 at a speed of l revolution. more or less, per minute, one end of the shaft (13 being fixed to a stub shaft to of the motor and the other end being reduced, as at 45, and journalled in bearing bracket 65. Brackets 432 and it are fastened by means of screws 4'! to the side of switch box 88. A fiber sleeve d9 is mounted on shaft t3, and a disc 5! and wiper discs 52 and 53, spaced from one another by spacers 56 are mounted. on said insulating sleeve for rotation with shaft Q3. The disc 5! and wiper discs 52 and 53 are adapted to run in oil in container 65 suitably fastened to the switch box 58. The wiper discs 52 and 53 are so arranged that contacts in each of the circuits, completed by them with disc 5 I. can be maintained for some definite period during each revolution. The contacts are made by means of a contact arm 56 which is continuously in contact with disc 5| and contact arms 51 and 58. p voted at 58', which are arranged so as to have intermittent contact with wiper discs 52 and 53 respectively. Contact arms 51 and 58 mav be adjusted with respect to wiper discs 52 and 53 by'adiusting means such as screw 59 carried in a suitable bracket 80 fixed to the wall of the switch box, the adjusting screw carrying a fiber insulating tip or plug iii.

The contacts of the switching device are included in the circuits between the micro-switches 32, 37 and 3a and the pilot motor 38. The purpose of the arrangement of the switching device is to prevent unnecessary hunting of the controller by preventing the pilot motor 38 from oi erating uninterruptedly for too long a period.

The device of this invention is capable of takin care oi any rate of change in the flow of the material to be extracted to the squeezing rolls re- When the control ourtain H gives an indication that the speed of the main motor 35 must be changed, the pilot motor only actuates the controller while the wiper discs 52 and '53 complete the circuits. This means that the controller can only move through a definite distance for each rotation of the cams. If, when the wiper discs 52 and 53 make contact again on theirnext revolution. afurther change in speed is indicated or needed, the controller will move through another definite distance.

This arrangement has the efiect of stabilizing the control and preventing the over-running of the While the present invention is applicable to the extraction of liquid from wet materials such as bagasse, paper pulp or cellulose acetate it is particularly applicable to the extraction of water from cellulose acetate after a washing treatasavgaaa cellulose acetate after passage through the squeeze rolls was about 45%, i. e. in every hundred pounds of cellulose acetate after the water ex-= traction by the squeeze rolls there were 45 pounds of water. With the control arrangement of the present invention it was found that the percentage of water in the cellulose acetate after passage through the squeeze rolls was 37%. Accordingly, the use of the control arrangement for the squeeze rolls-makes for more economical operation.

It is to be understood that the foregoing detailed description and drawings are given merely by way of illustration and that many variations may be made therein without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Apparatus for extracting liquid from wet masses of material, comprising squeeze rolls, means for feeding the wet mam to said squeeze rolls, feeler means adapted to follow the surface of the wet mass and to be actuated thereby, and means under the control of said feeler means for adjusting the rate of output of said squeeze rolls.

2. Apparatus for extracting liquid from wet masses of material, comprising squeeze rolls, :means for feeding the wet mass to said squeeze rolls, feeler means adapted to follow the surface of the wet mass and to be actuated thereby, and means under the control of said feeler means for adjusting the speed of rotation of said squeeze rolls.

3. Apparatus for extracting liquid from wet masses of material, comprising squeeze rolls, means for feeding the Wet mass to said squeeze rolls, feeler means adapted to follow the surface of the wet mass and to be actuated thereby, and means under the control of said feeler means .for controlling the operation of said squeeze rolls.

4. Apparatus for extracting liquid from wet masses of material, comprising squeeze rolls, a chute for feeding the wet mass to said squeeze rolls, a curtain in said chute adapted to be actuated by the wet mass, a shaft attached to and movable by movement of said curtain, a plurality of cams fixed to said shaft and means, including a plurality of micro-switches operated by the rotation of said cams, for adjusting the rate of output of said squeeze rolls.

5. Apparatus for extracting liquid fromwet masses of material, comprising squeeze rolls, a chute for feeding the wet mass to said squeeze rolls, a curtain in said chute adapted to be actuated by the wet mass, a shaft attached to and movable by movement of said curtain, a plurality ofcams fixed to said shaft and means operated by the rotation of said cams for controlling the operation of said squeeze rolls, said means including a motor for driving said squeeze rolls, a rheostat controller for regulating the speed of said motor and a pilot motor for operating saidcontroller.

movable by movement oi said curtain, a plurality of cams fixed to said shaft and means operated by the rotation of said cams for controlling the operation of said squeeze rolls, said means including a motor for driving said squeeze rolls, a rheostat controller for regulating the speed of said motor, a pilot motor for operating said controller, micro-swatches for controlling the operation of said pilot motor and means for operating said pilot motor.

8. Apparatus for extracting liquid from wet masses of material, comprising squeeze rolls, a chute for feeding the wet mass to said squeeze rolls, a, curtain in said chute adapted to be actuated by the wet mass, a shaft attached to and movable by movement of said curtain, a plurality of cams fixed to said shaft and means operated by the rotation of said cams for controlling the operation of said squeeze rolls, said means including a. motor for driving said squeeze rolls, a rheostat controller for regulating the speed of said motor, a pilot motor for operating said controller, micro-switches for controlling the operation of said pilot motor and means for operating said pilot motor, said means for operating said pilot motor including a plurality oi wiper discs, said wiper discs operating at a constant speed.

9. Apparatus for extracting liquid from wet masses of material, comprising squeeze rolls, a chute for feeding the wet mass to said squeeze rolls, a curtain in said chute adapted to be actuated by the wet mass, a shaft attached to and movable by movement of said curtain, a plurality of cams fixed to said shaft and means operated by the rotation of said cams for controlling the operation of said squeeze rolls, said means including a motor for driving said squeeze rolls, a rheostat controller for regulating the peed of said motor, a pilot motor for operating aid controller, micro-switches for controlling the operation of said pilot motor and means for operating said pilot motor, said means for operating said pilot motor including a plurality of wiper discs and a motor adapted to operate said wiper discs at a constant speed.

10. Apparatus for extracting liquid from wet masses of material, comprising squeeze rolls, a chute for feeding the wet mass to said squeeze rolls, a curtain in said chute adapted to be actuated by the wet mass, a'shaft attached to and movable by movement of said curtain, a plurality of cams fixed to said shaft and means operated by the rotation of said cams for controlling the operation of said squeeze rolls, said means including a motor fur driving said squeeze' rolls, a rheostat controller for regulating the speed of said motor, a pilot motor for operating said controller, micro-switches for controlling the operation of said pilot motor and means for operating saidpilot motor, said means for operating said pilot motor including a. plurality of wiper discs and a motor adapted to operate said wiper discs at a constant speed, the construction and arrangement being such that the operation of the nilot motor is interrupted at regular intervals.

CHARLES E. OLIVE. 

